Origins of the Breed

The Bengal breed is the result of the deliberate crossbreeding of the Asian Leopard Cat with domestic species. The Asian Leopard Cat is a small wild cat species native to Myanmar. They are genetically closer to modern domestic cats than any other wild cat species, such as the ocelots or lynx. This allows the Asian Leopard Car to successfully breed with domestic cats and produce offspring that can further reproduce. Hybrid animals tend to be infertile, such as mules (a cross between a donkey and a horse) being a well-known example. Animals that are closely related can produce fertile offspring such as a liger (lion + tiger) and a coywolf (wolf + coyote).

While Asian Leopard Cats had been bred with domestic varieties to produce wild looking spotted cats with the temperament of pets, Bengals as a separate and distinct breed were first recognized in the 1960s. The name Bengal is said by some to be an abbreviation of B. Engler, after a zookeeper called Bill Engler. More likely the Bengal got its name from in reference to the scientific name of the Asian Leopard Cat, Prionailurus bengalensis. Engler began breeding Asian Leopard Cat hybrids with the intent to produce more of these hybrids as pets. He believed that increasing the availability of domestic species that had the appearance and traits of wild animals would decrease the demand for the exotic animal industry and fur trade. Although Engler is credited with starting the breed of Bengals with his hybrids, his lines became sterile due to lack of genetic diversity after 2-3 generations. His lines also ended after his passing, and no Bengals today can be traced to his original line. He was also successful in registering these cats as a separate breed in the accrediting organization at that time, ACFA.​

Around the same time, a scientist named Dr. Willard Centerwall at Loma Linda University in California was interested in the innate resistance of the Asian Leopard Cat to the Feline Leukemia Virus. He attempted to cross these wild cats with domestic cats to determine whether that resistance could be transferred across species through genetics, with the intent to determine whether this resistance gene could be used in the treatment of human leukemias. Unfortunately, his studies were unsuccessful.

​In the 1970s, a cat breeder named Jean Mill took these cats from Dr. Centerwall and reignited the desire of Engler to produce domesticated cats that could reduce the impact of the fur and exotic pet trade. As Jean Mill continued to breed, show, and spread awareness of this new variety of domestic cat, their popularity grew quickly. Many other breeders saw the appeal of these hybrids and began importing their own Asian Leopard Cats to start their own early-generation hybrid Bengals. This allowed catteries to start crossbreeding with each other, introducing genetic diversity while also standardizing the breed enough to decrease the risk of hybrid sterility in subsequent generations.

Throughout the 1980s, the Bengal breed exploded in popularity and became widespread. Enough generations passed from the wilder F1 and F2 hybrids of the 60s and 70s. These cats retained their wild appearance but developed more and more traits that made them desirable as pets. Even today some of the wild streak can still be seen in pet Bengals many generations down from their wild ancestors when you notice your kitten swimming in his water bowl, or your adult cat perched as high as possible to survey the living room. ​